Hi Tina,
Thank you so much for your reply. After giving birth to my son I was given low dose of Paroxetine (SSRI) for a short period of time. The withdrawal from it was the worse trip I’ve ever had, provided that I came off the drug ever so slow. I hallucinated and had suicidal thoughts,just to mention few. So, logically when I read about Pregabalin being conceived as an anti-depressant (which later on turned out to work for neuropathic pain) I was completely freaked out. On a side note, I also developed pericardial effusion as a side effect from Beta interferons. I’ve suffered a lot from drugs that were meant to make my life better…
I can explain the ‘‘logic’’ behind my insistence to take muscular relaxant ( btw, my MS nurse said the same as you- Baclofen might be equally difficult to come off, same as Pregabalin). My idea was, since the pain or at least what we are taught to recognise as a pain was bearable, perhaps I only needed some muscular relaxant to make the squeezing go away and I will be only taking it now and then? Understand, since my bad experience in the past I was completely put off by pharmacological drugs and promised myself, never ever! If I ever get fit enough to get back to work, I would be the most Zen nurse practitioner ever…
Anyways,I started taking the dreaded Pregabalin. I’m on 25 mg twice a day and it makes me feel super tired and spaced out, the pain is gone and so is the horrific constriction that was upsetting me so much. There will be now and then some echo pains that would show up here and there, but they don’t last. I’ve been given instructions how to up the dose, but I will be very reluctant to do that, provided the way it makes me feel.
Being able to pick the smaller from two evils, this is the dilemma…
Best regards: Katya X